Supernatural
by Vanacorien
Summary: Alternate universe. Duo Maxwell is one of the best hunters you could ever find. But what happens when strange visions and an increase in demonic activity make him the hunted? Set in the Supernatural tv series. intended for mature readers. Yaoi parings 1x2
1. Prolog

Supernatural

By: Vanacorien

An: I am obsessed with the series supernatural and so I decided to do a Gundam Wing fic to it. Warnings and parings are as fallows. There will be blood, gore, violence, coarse language and yaoi (no wincest, because Dean is so straight it's scary). The pairing will be 1x2 with possible appearances by a single 03. Reviews are appreciated, enjoy.

The Road house was probably the cleanest and most well kept bar in the whole of the damned state. And Ellen wouldn't have had it any other way. The woman was a power house, pure and simple, a warrior woman reincarnated into mortal form and a power to be reckoned with.

This is why it was also one of the most entertaining bars in the state. Because their was nothing funnier than watching a six foot tall three hundred pound man who had killed more demons and evil creatures than any normal person could imagine tremble in his boots in the wake of the five foot six inch proprietor.

Duo snickered quietly into his glass of whiskey as he watched Ellen give Caleb the sharp side of her tongue. What the poor man had done to deserve his lashing god only knew but what ever it was Ellen wasn't letting it die. He shrugged and turned away, taking a sip of his drink and rolling his shoulders to get some of the kinks out.

He loved stopping by any time he got the chance. After a hard hunt or a nasty job it was nice to come back to the road house. It was like coming home to a room full of extended family which Duo had often missed after his time as an orphan. The road house was the place for any hunter to sit back and relax, or limp back and lick you're wounds depending on the kind of job you had, had. While there were some hunters that couldn't let go or were too intense to be able to talk around for the most part they were a decent lot and more than willing to help in any way they could.

"Hey there Father" Duo chuckled and peered from under the brim of his black cap at Jo, Ellen's daughter. Jo was a pretty petite blond who had all of her mother's good looks and even more of her sharp tongue. She had pretty soft blond hair that curled at the ends and doe brown eyes that complemented her creamy skin. She set down the tray of empty shot glasses and walked behind the counter retrieving the bottle from which his whiskey had come from.

She gestured to his glass with the bottle and he complied setting it down so that she could top him off. "Bless you my child." He replied jokingly and downed half the glass in one swill. Jo raised her eye brow at him and he crossed his eyes before swallowing, enjoying the burn as it slid down his throat.

She laughed and picked a rag from underneath the counter and began to whip down the polished wood. "Good hunt Duo?" He nodded setting the glass down again after she had whipped his section of counter. He put his elbows on the counter and brought one hand to fiddle with the small gold cross that hung from his neck. "Yup, I had this job to find a missing girl; she had been playing in this old ware house with a couple of friends at night when she suddenly disappeared. Cops searched the building but couldn't find anything so they assumed she had been abducted even though her friends didn't see anything, though she had been the third abducted that month" Jo paused in her whipping to look directly at Duo her brows knit in thought.

It was a favorite game of theirs, he'd tell her of his latest hunt and she'd try to solve it before he finished the story. She was good and got him almost every time. But Duo, knowing that she wanted to be out in the field (despite Ellen's protests) knew she needed to be better than 'almost every time'. "Let's see," She said thoughtfully. "Girl disappears in the night, with friends in an abandoned place. Cops sweep the area but nothing is found. Was it vampires?"

He smiled at the hopeful look in her eyes. "Sorry hon, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars." She gave him a slightly exasperated look and went back to thinking. Trying to think of some thing else that hunted quietly enough to allude teenagers. Duo tried not to grin and instead took another sip of his whiskey. She went to retrieve the bottle again but he waved her off. She gave a sigh and reached for the rag saying. "Okay I give up, what was it then?"

Duo grinned at her and shook a finger. "Why Miss Jo, I'm disappointed. The correct answer would be a genie. The little git was hiding in the abandoned meat lockers in a semi collapsed part of the ware house. The cops didn't search there because they were afraid it was structurally unsound. Which it was, damned thing nearly fell on my head on the way out."

Jo had a slightly surprised look on her face witch meant she really would have been slack jawed if it had been any one else. Duo snorted and looked away so that she couldn't see him laughing at her. "That face on you is priceless." He chortled, making her blink and then scowl. "That's not funny Duo! You know how dangerous a genie is! What if it had gotten you?"

He looked to her again and winked tilting his hat back a little and grinning. "Well then I'd imagine I wouldn't be sitting here owing you fifteen dollars in whiskey." His joke fell flat as she gave him a narrow eye's glare. Switching tactics so that he didn't join Caleb in the corner of the scolded he sighed to the counter top and looked up again.

"Jo, it's alright. I've been doing this longer than you've been alive. Trust me I can handle myself genie or no." She gave him a skeptical look that clearly said 'yeah right, sure'. "Right, and that's why you came back from that fight with the shape shifter with a broken arm and three busted ribs? Or how about that time you nearly got done in by that woman in white near Rachel Nevada? And lets not forget the infamous Jiwa incident in little Tokyo."

Duo ducked his head sheepishly and noted with no little embarrassment that they were being watched. "So glad I could amuse you." He muttered darkly as a small pain started in the back of his head. He blinked slowly and brought his hand up to his fore head, rubbing slightly at his temples to ease the pain. "And besides," Jo went on. Not noticing Duo wasn't paying attention any more. "We don't know that you're older than me. I mean you wont tell any one your birth day so we can't really say. For all you know I could be you're senior."

Duo tried to respond but all that came out was a hiss of pain from between clenched teeth as the pain in his head sharpened and began to pound. What was happening to him? Was it a reaction to the alcohol? No way, Duo knew he could hold his liquor. Hell he'd drink men three times his size under the table before it would affect him.

He was dimly aware that some one was asking him if he was alright. He must have made some sort of distressing noise because suddenly Ellen was there with her hand on his shoulder. "Duo, are you alright? Answer me Duo." He tried to focus but suddenly he wasn't looking at Ellen. He was looking at a woman, with brown hair and violet eyes staring widely from a pale face stretched in a silent scream. He felt his skin crawl and with a short cry he shoved himself away from the bar forgetting he was on a stool and fell backwards to the floor.

He brought both hands to his head and made a strange whining sound deep in his throat as Ellen quickly knelt beside him and told Jo to get the med kit. Duo tried to focus as two realities mixed and blurred before his eyes. Suddenly the woman looked straight at him, eyes wide and terrified as a small string of blood and saliva began to drip from her nose and lips. She breathed a sick wheezing sound and croaked to him in an attempt to speak. As his head pounded and he heard as if from a distance the voices of Ellen, Jo and Caleb he heard it, a wet whisper on still air. "My . . . Baby." And when at last he didn't think he could take any more, she burst into flames , the fire spreading from deep within her own punctured stomach and fanning out across her body feasting hungrily on the flesh it had been given. Duo's mind swam and then thankfully, luckily he lost consciousness.

Heero Yuy Paused in the mechanical cleaning of his weapons as a familiar prickle invaded his senses. Quickly, for he didn't know how much time he had before the vision came, he set down his weapon and picked up a pad and pen readying himself to take down any notes he could. The vision shook him with the force of which it had been sent and for one startling moment Heero realized that the vision was not being sent to him by his contact. Instead of blocking the other person he allowed the images to invade his mind, curious as to who would know enough to send him a vision as means of communication.

At the end of the mirad of images he sighed and tried to relax his tensed muscles as he looked down at the pad and blinked his eyes as if to rid him self of the residual pain. Most of the words were just descriptions of the vision itself. A bar, a home, a woman burning. But it had also given him two very important things. A location and a name.

The Road house and Duo Maxwell.

Authors note: A Jiwa is a Japanese ghost. It's the vengeful spirit of a child who was murdered or died because of abuse. They can appear as birds or in a humanoid form and use fire and phycic ability. They defend children whom they believe are being hurt and punish adults who hurt children. Sense it's the Jiwa's opinion as to weather or not the child is being hurt you could see why it would be a problem.

Thanks for reading please review.


	2. Chapter 1

Supernatural

By: Vanacorien

Warnings and pairings still apply. I also realized I forgot my disclaimer in the prolog. I own nothing of either Gundam Wing or Supernatural and I'm not being paid either. There. Please enjoy.

He had been driving for eight hours straight and was tiered to the bone. His eyes felt gritty and dry due to a lack of sleep and the constant growl of the engine was beginning to lull him into La La land. He was driving down I-95 north towards Washington and Baltimore hoping to cross the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in twenty minuets if traffic was good, thirty five if it wasn't. The warm Virginian spring had quickly fled leaving only the dry heat of the dog days of summer, and even at one o'clock in the morning the air was hot with the smog of the highway and surrounding city.

Despite the heat Duo drove with his windows down so that the slightly cooler air flowing past his car at sixty miles per hour and the raucous clamor of the other vehicles would keep him from falling asleep. His body told him to sleep, that he could drive himself into the ground just as well tomorrow as he could tonight only with the benefit of slightly better reaction time. But a part of his mind. The part that still saw wide violet eyes and uncontrollable flames just asked him why he was only going sixty.

After he had come to in the back room of the bar where Ellen some times let friends crash Duo knew he had to go home. Ellen didn't know what was going on, though she had tried like hell to find out and (though Duo would never admit it) had almost succeeded. No one at the Road house knew his past. Some thing that always baffled both them and him self. It's not as though he was ashamed of his past, and he wasn't afraid of rejection from any one there because lets face it. In the business they were in not having a family to go home to was some thing of a mixed blessing. It meant that your loved ones couldn't be used against you and vice versa. But it also brought him a great deal of pain and that was some thing that Duo never tried to burden any one with.

Lights flared off his windshield like evenly spaced beacons of civilization, the orange lamps sporadically casting his dash board into shadows. He tried to focus for what must have been the hundredth time on why it was he had to go home. Back to Baltimore, and why he felt this insane urge to keep his vision from Ellen.

"_Because it feels too dark." _ A small voice in his head said. He growled, not liking the idea that his subconscious knew more about this than his waking mind did. He was holing out on himself. Realizing his line of thinking he chuckled and muttered. "Maybe I should beat it outta me." His joke fell flat as the bridge came into sight and tightened his grip on the wheel forgetting for the moment about trying to ease himself. He was going to need the concentration, now more than ever.

It was a long three minuets crossing over the bridge from the common wealth into Maryland, but as his tail lights blurred and faded into the rest of the traffic he knew it would only be the beginning of a very long night.

Heero Yuy had been hunting demons before he could even speak, and with a proficiency and eloquence that left hunters more than half his age in bafflement and for some, a little bit of jealousy.

No one knew exactly from where the quiet young hunter had come, many speculating that he had emigrated from Japan for a change of venue others arguing that he had probably come from a long line and didn't want to endanger them. What ever his story was the enigmatic young man didn't say, any thing really. Most who knew him either went crazy trying to get him to talk or simply played his game of silence.

But one thing that no one could begrudge the boy was that he was good. One of the best hunters in the business eclipsing, even the Winchester family in tales of his daring deeds. Unlike his other counter parts how ever there was one oddity that stuck out. There were many hunters who went alone, for the most part in their field of expertise. Gordon Walker for instance before he had been arrested for nearly killing Sam Winchester had always been alone in the never ending hunt to annihilate vampires and even the much exalted Bill Harvelle had gone it alone. But never for more than a month.

But Yuy was a one man show. He researched and hunted what ever he found where ever he found it all on his own with no mercy or regard for civilian life. That's not to say that he was a loose cannon but, quite simply that he was cold. He didn't care if he'd just told you that your family had been eaten by a Rakshasa but he had gotten it and thanks for being the bait.

So it had come in as quiet a shock to Ellen Harvelle to have the young maverick him self wander into her bar and sit down at the counter that sunny after noon. Many of the patrons turned to look his way some in mild surprise some with varying scowls on their faces. Jo cast a glance at the boy as he brought a brand new laptop out of its carrying case and set it atop the counter after sweeping some crumbs from the surface. Her expression turned thunderous. She had never liked the young man and especially not sense after her father's death when he had made a comment that it was Bill's own fault. That he had tried to take on some thing that was too big for just himself and John alone, and that he should have thought more of the consequences.

At the time Ellen had been just as outraged as Jo at the harsh way that he spoke of her newly deceased husband. But as her anger, and the pain of new loss wore off she began to understand the meaning of his seemingly cold words. And over time she had tried to make some sort of tentative relationship with the soft spoken boy.

Jo however, was not so quick to forgive, or forget.

She sauntered around the bar, letting her boot heels click in a way that she knew would annoy the stoic young man. Deep blue eyes peered up at her through messy chocolate bangs and for some reason that just seemed to annoy her even more. Her expression soured by another degree and then she gave a mocking smile. "So, what will it be Yuy? Let me guess, ice water. Do you want it in a glass or should we just inject it directly into your veins?"

He raised his head slightly and then a small smile came to his face. "A glass will be fine Joanna, thank you." Her eyes narrowed as she opened her mouth to retort, she _hated _it when people called her Joanna, but her mother cleared her throat expectantly. Sighing loudly she turned, walking to the other end of the bar where they kept the bottled water and ice. Yuy watched her stomp to the ice chest with a small smirk at her annoyance. Then wiped the expression from his face as he turned back to look at Ellen. She looked tiredly at the young man, and not for the first time wondered what had happened to him to make him this way.

"I haven't seen you in a while Heero, what brings you all the way out here?" She said softly, so as not to elicit too much attention. He gave her a brief glance then tapped the keys of his laptop for a few minutes. He clicked and sent whatever he had been typing and looked to her again. He opened his mouth to answer her, but just then Jo came back with his water. After setting it on the counter with a little more force than necessary she gave him a mock smile and said "Enjoy your drink Yuy." She picked up a tray and began to walk away when a quiet "Thank you Joanna." Caught her hears. She seethed and stalked out onto the main floor.

Ellen sighed and looked back to Heero who had gone back to typing on his keys. Ellen picked up a rag from the counter top and moved down the bar a bit to see to her other customers. Planning on getting the answer from him later.

As day turned to night and the evening crowd came in. Ellen and Jo both lost Yuy in the whirl of activity. After she had tossed the fifth drunk out that night Ellen decided it might be time to close up shop early. She was just about to make the announcement when the front door opened to admit a short blonde haired young man. Ellen smiled at him as she waved him over to the bar. He waved tentatively back and approached the bar answering to the few hailings and greetings he received.

She looked around the top shelf for a moment her fingers feeling nothing but some light layers of dust before she put her fingers on the bottle. She pulled it off the top shelf and retrieved the cork screw just as her customer sat down. "Good evening Quatre how are you?" The young blonde smiled at her politely, shifting to make himself comfortable on the chair before he folded his hands onto his lap. "I'm good, and you Mrs. Harvelle?" Ellen smiled at Quatre, trying to remember the last time any one had called her Mrs. Harvelle. "I'm doing alright Quatre, could be better."

She uncorked the bottled and reached under the counter to retrieve the glass she kept specifically for Quatre. The younger man had moved to the out skirts of town almost three years ago now and had been a very welcomed customer ever sense. He wasn't a hunter or a weapons maker but he was a powerful young witch and had earned her respect with his quick wits and shy and polite personality. At first she was skeptical that he had even been old enough to leave his parents house let alone be out on his own. Quatre had a baby face and soft aquamarine colored eyes that went beautifully wit his hair and pale complexion. Something about Quatre made her want to hold and cuddle him like a child, but she knew that you couldn't. One good reason being that he wouldn't allow it, and another because he'd probably turn you into something slimy if you tried. Ellen remembered they actually had one such incident, and it had shocked the hell out of her.

Pouring the dark maroon colored liquid into the glass, Ellen handed it over to Quatre and set the bottle down beside it. Quatre smiled and thanked her before picking up the glass and taking a large sip before setting it down. After he had he set the glass down he looked around the bar noticing the various faces he knew or had an acquaintance with. After a moment he looked back to Ellen with a slight frown on his face.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Har- Ellen." He said. The tone in his voice, and the use of her first name caught her attention like a shot. She leaned on the counter her brow creased in concern as she waited for him to continue. When he didn't immediately respond she prompted him gently until he spoke again. "You wouldn't have happened to have seen Duo today have you?" Her face creased into a frown and she shook her head. "No, he was here last night but I thought he had gone back to your place. Didn't he spend the night?"

Quatre looked down at the bar shaking his head. Quatre had met Dou a year before he had moved here, while Duo was on a job. Quatre was being stalked by a shape shifter and Duo had gotten it before he had gotten him. They had become fast friends and so whenever Duo was nearby, or on his way to or from a job he would stop in and spend the night or a few days with Quatre. Ellen shook her head no and was about to continue with the strange event that had happened last night, when someone from the floor shouted to Quatre.

They both turned to look at the speaker, a tall lanky man with short cropped blonde hair and a john deer ball cap on. "You lookin for Maxwell, right? Duo Maxwell?" Quatre nodded quietly and Ellen listened closely. Duo had been so closed off about where he had been going that Quatre wasn't the only one who wanted to know his where abouts. The man took a quick swill of his beer before continuing the conversation he interrupted.

"Yeah, I met him at a gas station some where in Virginia, near Alexandria I think. Said he was heading up to Baltimore or some thing." One of the hunters at his table asked him what he had been doing up there him self and as the rest of the bar became enthralled by the tale he spun of a poltergeist at Mt. Vernon.

As the other patrons laughed and chortled, Ellen and Quatre shared a worry filled glance. Quatre downed his glass of wine and Ellen refilled it, noting how the blonde's eyes had taken the far off look of someone calculating an impromptu trip to Baltimore. She sighed quietly and set the bottle down, glancing up as she heard the door shut she frowned when she didn't see any one there. Suddenly remembering Heero she looked to the end of the bar where she had left him hours before. The chair was empty, and the boy gone. The only proof that he had been in the first place was lying on the counter, it was a crisp ten dollar bill, next to an untouched glass of water and a note giving his thanks.

If any one lives in Alexandria and has had to take the Woodrow Wilson Bridge any where, you know that there is always traffic on the bridge no matter what item of day or night. Rush hour just about kills me.

Bill Harvelle: Ellen's husband, Jo's father. His actual name is William Harvelle, but I wanted to personalize him a little so I gave him a nick name.

Rakshasa: a Hindu demon that eats human flesh. It prefers to live in dark cool places and eats live humans. It is invisible to those it doesn't wish to see it, and the only way to kill it is with copper weapons. This demon appeared in the episode "Every body loves a Clown"

Also I made a booboo in the last chapter. I just remembered Caleb's dead. He died near the end of the first season. Meg killed him. Bitch.


	3. Chapter 2

Supernatural

By: Vanacorien

Duo slowly made the left turn that would take him onto West Saratoga Street and end his hell bent journey. At some where in the neighbor hood of 5:30 in the morning, he had finally convinced him self to stop and rest before he killed some one, or him self. He had pulled off the exit to Bowie, a quiet little strip of buildings and new town houses an hour and a half away from Baltimore. There he had sequestered a hotel room from a pretty young brunet who had given it to him with twenty percent off due to his fake military I.D. (and some light flirting).

He had taken a few precious minuets to secure the room, pouring salt along the windows and doorways as well as hanging his 'protection bag' (a gift from Quatre) from the center of his head board. He had then collapsed into and ungraceful heap onto the cheap hotel bed and slept like the dead, with one hand tucked under the pillow loosely grasping his bowie knife as he slept.

Now, awake for the most part and lacking the look (and smell) of three day old road kill Duo pulled into the parking lot of St. Alphonsus Cathedral. For a moment he just stood out side, admiring the look of the sun on old warm red bricks. He remembered days when they all used to just sit out here and soak up the sun. When they would just talk and laugh for hours, even when they should have been doing other duties. He closed his eyes as if to recapture those moments and for a second, he thought he almost grasped them again.

A car alarm blared to life on the street across from him screaming it's warning cry as the punks who had tried to steel it dropped their tool and ran. Duo watched them go and shook his head the feeling of nostalgia lost in the present. He sighed into his collar and headed for the grey concrete steps to the heavy wooden doors.

As he stepped through the doors the scents of frankincense and wax assailed his nose and he sneezed. It had been ages sense he'd been in a church particularly this one. He cast his eyes about remembering all the nooks and crannies, looking over the statues that he remembered from his boy hood and the ones that had been added sense it's absence.

They had finally fixed the statue of St. Michael that had sat near the confessional. For the longest time parishioners had accidentally been banging the doors on the poor saint and it had come to the point that the statue had begun to chip and crack. One Sunday, during mass, a child had gotten bored and begun to play with the door and with one hearty swing had managed to break off half of his shin. Needless to say the child's parents had been quit embarrassed by the whole thing and had offered to pay for repairs. But father had just shaken it off and said that it would serve as a lesson to other children. That succumbing to boredom could not only get you in trouble but cripple saints as well.

Duo smiled a small smile as he looked at the repaired statue, now standing a good three feet away from the confessional as if to say that at least _he_ had learned his lesson. Duo continued his perusal of the cathedral noticing the windows that needed repairs, and the pews that needed more polish. Slowly he worked his way up to the alter place, and knelt before the crucifix crossing him self before he sat in one of the first pews.

He sat there with is head bowed in thought for few moments until he heard the quiet tap of heels on the cold marble floor. He looked up but did not turn as the sound became closer and then stopped. Duo waited a moment breath stopped in his throat then, tentatively a voice called to him. "Mr. Maxwell?" He looked up to see a nun standing not more than three pews behind him.

Her face was aged, but not in a dramatic way. There were slight lines at the corners of her mouth and eyes and creases stretched in fine lines across her brow where her habit allowed it to show. She was of average height and build at least of what you could tell beneath the black robes. Duo smiled and stood noting the puzzled look she gave him as she took in his clothing. He walked toward her with careful steps knowing how loudly the room echoed to the slightest noise. He held out his hand giving a small smile. "Hello, you must be Sister Augustine, yes I'm Mr. Maxwell thou I prefer you call me Duo."

Sister Augustine nodded a small smile of her own coming to her face as she took his hand and shook it gently. "Yes, that's right. You look exactly as she said you would, though I didn't know you were coming from the seminary to visit. I would have had Monsignor Bastress greet you." Duo released the good sister's hand and tucked it into his pocket so that he could avoid fiddling with the cross around his neck. He didn't want to disappoint the good sister but Duo hadn't even stepped foot in the seminary, despite what the Catholic Church had paid for.

Duo waved a hand in dismissal. "It's all right. This trip was actually very short notice and I didn't want to inconvenience any one. Though if you don't mind there was some one I'd like to speak with." Her smile saddened slightly and she nodded, turning from the alter she began for one of the many side doors leading like portals in a maze from one part of the cathedral to the next. As Duo followed he noticed the small changes as they passed from the main cathedral to the rectory, and then to the convent's section of the old house of god.

They passed the kitchen and the back steps leading to one of the small gardens kept by the convent on their way up the back stairs to the individual sleeping quarters. Duo's face formed a frown and as though expecting his question Sister Augustine said. "She's been confined to her bed for some time now. The doctors don't want her to under take any form of stress, and so she only comes down at meal times and for masses. We've had to slow those as well. The walk, takes a lot out of her these days."

Duo nodded, though he knew she couldn't see it and looked to the various paintings on the walls as he passed by his mind trapped in thought. "How much longer do the doctors think?" Was all he asked, and in truth he regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. He didn't really want to know, but it seemed odd to just let the conversation die. She didn't answer right away, and for a moment Duo hoped she hadn't heard him. Then she quietly said. "No more than six more months at the least. Three, if she stops eating again."

Duo pursed his lips as his thoughts turned grim. As he reached the top of the stairs he thanked Sister Augustine for her help and asked that he be allowed to spend some time alone with her. She nodded and turned to head back down the stairs, but paused on the second step down and turned to look at him once more. Her face held sadness, but not pity, only a seeming longing.

For a moment he was puzzled by her expression and then she spoke. "You know Mr., Duo." She corrected her self. "Before the Reverend Mother became ill, I've been hearing stories, of a rebellious long haired boy with a Botticelli(A/n) smile and nearly unheard of compassion for a good few years. I still sense that compassion, but I wish I could have met you before the death of that smile. I have always liked Botticelli."

Duo watched her turn then quickly and walk briskly down the stairs as if to escape her own words. He looked after her for a moment longer. Then gave a small dark chuckle. "Believe me good Sister." He said quietly. "I wish you could have to."

As Duo knocked on the last door in the long gallery of rooms he noticed the thick medicinal smell surrounding the last stretch of hallway. He listened to see if any one had responded to his knock and when no one had he cautiously reached for the knob and slowly opened the door.

He entered slowly into the handsomely furnished sitting room, noticing the small tells that said the woman who called this place home had not been about in a while. A light coating of dust covered thick bound leather books that had been polished and oiled throughout the years to prevent cracking and mold. The rich mahogany desk that sat in the room's center had once been a tidy place for work and study. It was now obviously a cache for various medical equipment, such as medications and even bags of I.V. fluid.

He shook his head at the drastic change in a place that had almost been a second home to him. As he turned away from one of the many book shelves lining the walls, a small slender book practically wedged in between the thick tomes that surrounded it caught his eye. Lightly he walked over to the shelf and pulled the book slowly from its cranny. Flipping it so that he could read the cover, a small smile broke onto his face as he recognized one of the first books she had ever gotten him.

It was a small children's book, meant for beginning readers entitled "Is you're Momma a Llama?"(a/n) He chuckled to himself as he opened the old pages idly flipping through the book looking at the illustrations. As he finished flipping he sighed and let the book rest against his chest for a moment thinking again about better days. Of days when this sitting room would have been clean enough the see your self reflected In the wood paneling , of days when the lights would be on and some one would be sitting at that big old mahogany monstrosity scowling at him for some other trouble he had caused or been involved in.

He reached to place the book back upon the shelf when a tired voice from behind him startled him from his thoughts. "I could read it to you, you know." He whirled around, focusing on the sound coming from the door way. What he saw made his breath still.

She stood, as tall as her body could stand , seemingly leaning like a house that has lost it's support over the years and was on the verge of collapse. She had herself propped against the door jamb a worn wooden cane clutched in one gnarled hand the other pulling a shawl across thin narrow shoulders despite the heat of the day. She wore a white dressing gown, a night gown, and her hair which had once shown a bright straw gold (whenever Duo could get the habit off) had now faded into a snowy white and was braided loosely and draped over one shoulder.

Duo gaped for a moment at the vision before him. Then without uttering a sound slowly walked to her and handed her the book. She smiled slightly and reached out a fragile hand to take it from him, then turned slowly shuffling back into her room. "Let's read this in here. They've managed to clutter my desk with all manner of useless and uncomfortable things." Duo smiled at her back and slowly fallowed Mother inside closing the door part way as she sat down slowly on the brass bed groaning with the springs as she settled onto it.

Duo frowned at the groan of both bed and body and came to sit at her feet like he used to as a child. "You shouldn't have gotten up if it hurts to sit back down Sister Helen." She gave him a snort as she settled herself more firmly onto the bed lifting her feet off the floor a bit before fumbling on the bed side table for a moment. "Well, I couldn't wait for you all day, and I don't have the breath to yell."

As if to punctuate her words she gave a small cough. Finally she found what she was looking for and a slightly breathless "Aha!" Issued from her mouth. She set the book down for a moment and opened the arms of her glasses, the lenses thick on the wire frames that seemed to have bent by bearing their weight. As she perched them on the tip of her nose Duo couldn't help but giggle at the look they gave her, of and old school marm or someone's' stern aunt.

Knowing exactly the reason for Duo's laughter Sister Helen cast a glance at Duo over the tops of those glasses and said in her best teaching voice. "Is there a problem Mr. Maxwell?" Duo nodded looking directly into her eyes and suddenly the smile was gone. "Yes," he said quietly. "I was just wondering. Where all the years have gone." She stilled in her task of opening the small book and looked him in the eye for a moment. Then she smiled, a small Mona Lisa smile and said. "Wherever they went, they aren't ours to hold any more. All we can do is try to remember as best we can."

Duo nodded slightly. Not sure she had understood what he had meant but unwilling to press the question. Slowly she began to read to him. The very first book she had gotten for him when he had been a boy of eight, and she a woman of forty-five. It began as it always had. "Is your momma a llama, I asked my friend Dave." As she read Duo relaxed and laid his head on her lap. She set down one corner of the book to stroke her fingers through his hair, brushing the bangs back from his forehead as her voice continued in a steady hum.

They both knew that he had not come merely for a story. Just as they both knew he couldn't stay for long. But for right now, there were only the two of them. And at that moment in time. It was all either of them had wanted, in a long, long, time.

Botticelli: Alessandro or Sandro Botticelli was a famous painter during the Renaissance. One of his most famous paintings amongst others is his painting of Venus or "The birth of Venus" To find more, look here: http://en. you're Momma a Llama?" This was one of the first books I learned to read when I was a child and is one of my favorites because of the illustrations. The artist used water colors I believe and it was very well done.

Also , as a side note there is in fact a St. Alphonsus cathedral in Baltimore Maryland on West Saratoga street. Weather it still has a convent attached or not I am not sure. But there is a beautiful cathedral there. So if your in the neighbor hood or you like gothic architecture. Go check it out.


	4. Chapter 3

Supernatural

By: Vanacorien

Heero Yuy watched from the corner of a small deli across the street from the massive red brick cathedral. The weather had taken a turn for the worse somewhere after four or five o' clock, and now despite it only being seven the sky was dark with thunder clouds.

He allowed his eyes to rove the massive building once more noting the turn of the century gothic architecture. The way the steeple, sharp with decorations pieced the pregnant sky almost as if willing the rain to spill. He looked from the church to his watch and then back again. He waited for his quarry to remove itself from its hiding place.

After Heero had heard of Duo's location at the Road House he had booked a flight for that night to Baltimore International. His plane had taken off at midnight and he had arrived at seven that morning. He had secured a room for himself in a small cheap hotel across the street from St. Alphonsus, a room with a perfect view of the street and main entry way to the cathedral.

There he had sat and gone through the information that he and his source had managed to gather on the other hunter. He sifted through numerous papers ranging from court documents to a copy of the other hunters birth certificate. All of them had a similar plot but the stories differed from source to source.

He remembered reading a summery of the states involvement in Maxwell's care as part of his usual back ground check. He had been a bit surprised at what he had found.

Born, Duo Ian Michelson on March 13, 1985

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Place of Birth: Baltimore Maryland; St. Margaret's of the divine Heart charity hospital.

Mother: Katharine Amanda Michelson (Now deceased)

Father: Unknown

Subject history: Duo I. Michelson was remanded to the state after the death of his mother where in he was placed in foster care with the option to adopt. After three months in the home of Carolyn Segal Duo was placed back in the care of A.C.S. at the age of nine months due to an accidental fire at the Segal home.

Duo remained in the custody of the state until the age of three when he was again given to a foster family with the option to adopt. Duo stayed in the home of Corey and Mica Roberts for four months before he was once again returned to A.C.S. for unspecific reasons. There is a pattern of occurrences like this for the next five years. Where Duo has been placed in a home and then returned to A.C.S. after a short period of time (normally spanning three to six months.)

The foster parents have never been specific in their reasons for returning Duo to state custody; the most commonly mentioned being "strange occurrences" in the home. At the age of eight it had been decided that Duo might remain with A.C.S. until he legally became an adult but was then adopted by Father Adrian Maxwell, a priest of St. Alphonsus Cathedral.

It was noted that the Vatican gave approval for the adoption. That Father Maxwell was within his rights evoking a Vatican law instating that he could take on a ward for the church, if the child was intending to enter the seminary at the age of eighteen. Duo seemed agreeable to this and so he was adopted by Father Maxwell and began school.

It is noted that though Duo excelled at his studies he fought, and was often aggressive or despondent towards his other class mates and children his own age group. When A.C.S. made an inquiry the school disposed all records of these alleged fights and displays of aggression. In almost all cases Duo was found not at fault and the cases were dropped.

Seven years after his adoption of Duo, Father Maxwell was found murdered two blocks away from his parish. The body was terribly mutilated and had to be identified by dental records. Duo, who was with Father Maxwell at the time would not speak about the incident, and said only that "It" had come form no where and that "It" had vanished into thin air. Duo him self seemed unharmed but for a few cuts and bruises. He was treated for shock and some minor defensive wounds at St. Michael's emergency medical center and released under observation to the Reverend Mother of St. Alphonsus parish Sister Mary Helen. Authorities could find no leads or evidence to further the case, and so it remains unsolved.

Duo legally changed his last name to Maxwell after his graduation from high school in 2003 before his entry into the Mt. St. Mary's seminary school.

Subject's current status: Unknown

Where abouts: Unknown

Next of kin: Sister Mary Helen of St. Alphonsus Cathedral

There were several documents like that along with a few that just didn't add up. There was a news paper clipping from July 1985 about his mothers death. According to authorities Duo's mother had been a single mom in a run down apartment. The whirring had gone bad and the apartment had caught on fire. The only reason Duo had survived the tragedy had been the quick action of a neighbor who had heard the baby crying.

Others namely her neighbor Mr. Higgs had told police that she had been yelling at some one, and then had screamed before the fire started. Other neighbors concurred, but there was no one seen fleeing the crime and no other bodies besides Ms. Michelson's. The police ruled out homicide and filed it as an accidental death.

Heero shifted his weight as he leaned against the brick wall of the deli, his feet beginning to protests his three hour long vigil. He was curious about many things concerning Duo Maxwell. Like how he had managed to penetrate a phycic link between Heero and his contact with out even trying, and send him visions, or what he assumed were 'copies' of his own visions through that link. Or why he had chosen to send them to Heero. As well as the conflicting reports of his mother's death and the "Strange occurrences" that happened in the homes Duo stayed in including a church.

As Heero was giving up hope of his quarry leaving the church he saw one of the large wooden doors open and a slender young man step through. It took Heero a moment to recognize the other man, his priest's attire taking Heero aback for a moment. But then he caught sight of a long brown braid swinging down his back and knew he had the right man.

Heero stood up right from his slouch and pulled his hands from his pockets. He watched Maxwell for a moment, waiting to see where the boy would go. Heero had no intention of meeting Maxwell tonight. He was going to observe him and wait for the opportune moment. A time when he could have the upper hand over the other boy.

He had sensed no ill intent from the visions or any evil from the small presence of it that still remained in the back of his mind. But he hadn't lived this long in his profession with out a good amount of caution. He would watch, and wait for now.

GHGHGHGHGH

Duo left St. Alphonsus with more information and a heavier heart than he had entered. He had listened to Sister Helen read to him. Just allowed him self to wallow in the memories and warmth of comfort that her voice had brought to him when he was a child and even now when he was an adult. They had talked for hours. Of his latest hunts, of the people he had met and saved. His health and any thing that they could think to relate to each other.

Then had come the hardest part of his trip. While Duo had wanted to see Helen badly he had also needed information. About himself, and the woman in his dreams. Questions that he had always asked but never received an answer to. Some questions it would seem, that he still wouldn't have an answer too at least, not right now.

Sister Helen hadn't been able to tell him much about his mother. She had been long dead before Helen and Duo had even met. But she did tell him of someone who could help him out. The social worker for his case had been a man named Howard Sweeps and even Duo could remember "Uncle Howie". It would seem that after Father Maxwell's death Howard had gotten in contact with Helen and had kept up with her ever since. And had been keeping tabs on Duo since he had left the church and started hunting, if anyone could help, Sister Helen believed it would be Howard.

The only problem was finding the old bird. Apparently after Duo had graduated Howard had gotten out of A.C.S. and opened up a car repair shop. It was a nifty little place called "The Sweepers" but beyond that Sister Helen couldn't remember any more, and Duo couldn't press her to try. By the time he left she had been nodding off, apparently so tired that she couldn't stay awake any longer.

At least that's what she wanted Sister Clarence to think. She had come in to give Sister Helen her meal and evening medication and when she noticed how tired Sister Helen was she gave a brief scowl to Duo (as if it were really all his fault) and smiled saying. "I'll let you rest for now Reverend Mother. But I'll be back for your late evening doses at nine."

Duo slowly made his way to his car. A beat up 64' Chevy be lair, black in color though he was going to need to get that touched up. He grinned to himself as he rattled his keys out of his pants pocket. Maybe if he asked real nice Howard would give him a discount. It'd be another thing to ask him when he got there.

GHGHGHGHGH

"What do you mean no?"

Duo had found Howard at his shop which was quite the lucky break for him. Howard had been locking up shop when Duo pulled into the near empty and somewhat weeded lot. Howard had taken one look at Duo and without even saying a word strode forward to give him a hug.

Now they sat in a seedy little place called McKay's sharing a pitcher of miller and catching up on everything. Sister Helen had thought it prudent to tell Howard every thing that had been going on with him since his failure to enter the seminary, and so he knew all about Duo's hunts and business. He also, as it seemed had some suggestions as for his more difficult prey such as vampires and shape shifters.

"From what I've gleaned," Said Howard on the very subject. "Dead man's blood is the most effective way to deal with a vampire But you'd have to fill their own blood stream with more than three pints of it before you could actually kill a vamp with it. So what's after that?" Duo, who had been taking a sip from his mug set the glass down licking his lips a bit. "Well, there's always holy water. Burns like hell and if you can get it down their throat you could melt the head clean off."

Howard who was more than a little tipsy shook a finger at him. "And why the hell would you want to get close enough to one in order to pour it down their throat?" Duo smiled at him and saluted with his glass. "Trust me Howard, I can understand the sentiment. But unfortunately sense most vamps can't feed long distance it's more likely than not that you'll get a vamp in your face weather you want them there or not."

Howard gave an inarticulate grunt and picked up his mug to take a swig. As Howard all but drained his mug Duos eyes swept the room, twin lasers searching for any impending or present disturbance. There was none. For McKay's being such a nasty little place they were actually pretty quiet. Then again reflecting on the three bouncers and the proprietor himself Duo could see why no one sober enough would want to start something. A slight movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he looked over with a scowl not for the first time that night. Duo's eyes fixed on a small shadowed corner of the bar, towards the stairs that led to the bars second floor.

There in the corner sitting at an unsteady table was young Japanese man, about Duo's age or older. His skin was of a golden hue, cast lighter in the blue glow of the laptop he held in front of him. Duo couldn't see much of the lower half of his face, it having been obscured by the laptop but his eyes and hair were visible. His hair, a dark chocolate in color, was short and almost choppy looking in the front where long bangs shadowed his forehead giving him a look of styled messiness, while his eyes were a piercing cobalt blue and were, not for the first time that evening staring straight at Duo.

It wasn't the fact that the other young man was interested in Duo that was the problem. In fact if tonight was any other night he'd be more than happy to ask the other man to join them, for he was, Duo suspected, a hunter just like him. But the look the other boy was giving him wasn't one of recognizing a comrade or someone who shared professions. It was the look you gave to prey when thy realize you're there.

Heated, intimidating, and much to Duo's shame he had to admit, that it was working. Breaking the gaze he held with the young Japanese boy Duo turned his attention back to Howard, who had taken the opportunity to refill his mug. Setting the pitcher down gently on the old scarred wood table Howard wrapped both hands around his mug and looked Duo straight in the eye.

"So, Duo." He started a bit unsteadily. Duo turned slightly in his seat to fully face him, giving the impression that he was now listening raptly to every word Howard was about to say. Howard fiddled with the condensation on the mug. Watching as the small beads of water joined each other morphing into a small ball and dropping down the side of the glass.

"I'm assuming that you didn't seek me out for the sheer entertainment value of it. What's up kid?" Duo snorted and began to fiddle with the cross around his neck, appreciating Howard's bluntness while cursing it at the same time. How was he supposed to work with a line like that? Heaving a sigh and forcing him self to let go of the cross. Duo wrapped both of his own hands around his drink glaring into the yellow liquid as if the frothing little bubbles in side held the answers.

"Well," Duo started, not entirely sure how to voice his query. Howard, however it seemed was one step ahead of him. "You're here to ask about your mother aren't you?" Duo huffed and looked deeper into his drink. It was an annoying habit he had had even when Duo was young. "How'd you guess?" He mumbled still not looking up from his drink. It had always felt strange to speak about his mother mainly because he didn't feel she was real.

Of course he knew better. Kids just didn't fall out of the clear blue sky and it'd be one helluva day when it started happening. But Duo really just didn't have anything from her to make her solid in his reality. Like the pieces of Noah's ark to those looking to believe, Duo had no physical symbol of her to cement in his mind.

Howard cleared his throat and looked to the side, then for the first time since seeing each other he reached a hand up to his face and took off his sun glasses. His eyes were an aged baby blue. At one point in time they might have been a deep blue or a lighter blue ringed with gold. But now they were only watery, like a shining decorative bead of glass placed under water, the whites of his eyes were busy with blood vessels streaking spidery red from the corners to the pupils of his eyes.

He looked then back at Duo and not for the first time that day did Duo wonder where the time had gone. Rubbing a calloused hand over his eyes Howard paused for a moment and then said very quietly. "Your mother was the daughter of a friend of mine from my graduating class in high school. I was in my late thirties when Katie got pregnant. You're grandfather actually wanted her to abort you, but she wouldn't have it any other way than her own. She said you were special, and that she couldn't live with herself if she were to do that. Needless to say her father wasn't pleased and so Katie was kicked out."

Duo starred at Howard with a little bit of awe and anger. He had never heard from Sister Helen or Howard him self for that matter that Howard had known his mother more intimately than just social worker and parent. He had always assumed that they had met after he was borne.

Taking a sip from his mug, his throat feeling a little dry Duo asked the first question that popped into his head. "Did you take her in then?"

Howard shook his head no and took his hand from his eyes to fiddle with his glass once more. "No, though god knows I tried. I knew Jeremy, you're grandfather, could be a bastard but I also knew that you're grandmother Cecelia wanted Katie back. Despite her husbands stand on it, she was actually excited to be having a grandchild and even helped your mother pick out some of your baby clothes, when Jeremy wasn't looking to closely at the accounts."

Duo tried to picture that and couldn't quite piece it together. What would his grandmother have looked like? His grandfather? A picture of a stout older man popped into his mind, wearing a three piece suit and a dark scowl on his face next to a lithe woman with laugh lines around her eyes and mouth and a kind twinkle in her eyes, her iron grey hair swept back into a tight respectable bun.

And then his mother, he still couldn't picture her. Had she looked at all like him? Or had he taken after his father? One of the biggest problems he had had in high school and middle school was being teased about his looks. As a child he had thought he was ugly or strange because people made fun of his "big watery eyes." And "long straggly hair." As he had grown older though he realized that it was the fact that these qualities ( not watery or straggly at all)were attractive that people found displeasing which he had found totally amusing seeing as how high school was only a big beauty contest any way.

"Well, where did she go then? Did she stay with my father?"

Again Howard nodded no and let loose a long sigh before taking a swig from his mugs. A trickle of beer streamed from the corner of his mouth and gathered at the end of his bewhiskered chin, to drip onto his loud Hawaiian shirt.

"In all honesty Duo, I'm not even sure she knew who the guy was." Duo's eyebrows creased as his face turned into a frown. He was just about to open his mouth when Howard held a hand up for his silence. "Now hold on, before you get all defensive. I'm not trying to say any thing bad about your mother. God knows I loved the girl; I was her god father after all. But there was a time in her life that Katie started getting into trouble. It was never any thing serious, no drugs or alcohol or any thing else like that. It's just; well I mean it was the 80's. A lot of things people thought were taboo were up for grabs and that included things having to deal with sex and the occult."

Duo's frown increased even further and he mulled over what Howard had said. It all seemed like some sort of strange play. Two parents casting out their occultist teenage daughter after she gets pregnant by an unknown father, and refuses to abort the baby. In fact it sounded vaguely like the plot for Rosemary's baby and he told Howard so.

Howard let out a slightly strained chuckle and then shuddered as if the very idea scarred him. The humor fluttered away from the moment like cigarette smoke clearing from the air, until Duo cleared his throat again and said. "So, my mother was an occultist who didn't know who knocked her up, only that the baby was "special". That's not a lot to go on Uncle Howie."

At the words 'knocked up' Howard gave Duo a scowl and a raised eye brow. Duo had the grace to blush after realizing that while he may not be particularly defensive of his mother's memory, a man who knew and cared for her as his own child was likely to take a bit more offense to his crude wording. After a moment's silence though, Howard appeared to have forgotten about it, or else just let it slide.

"Well I didn't say I was done now did I? And stop calling her an occultist. Girl wasn't out biting heads off of chickens in graveyards for Christ sakes. She was into green witchery. Charms for protection and good luck stuff like that. I know for a fact you've got a little witch friend out in the mid west some where. Besides since when have you become judgmental about magic's?" Duo nodded in concession to that point. Not wanting to argue that Witchcraft and 'the occult' had two different meanings in his mind. "So then, she didn't stay with you, and she didn't stay with my dad where did she go? Did she get her own place right off the bat?"

Howard shook his head and took his hands off from his mug long enough to stretch out his arms. "Nope, it was actually your grandmother Sonya who took her in. Sonya had been feeling under the weather for a long time and when Katie got kicked out your grandmother offered to let her move in if she helped her around the apartment. It was a good deal and Katie took it with out hesitation. Sonya was a bit of a ball breaker and not the most congenial of people, but she and Katie got along well enough. Sonya died about two months before you were borne. Cane slipped and she fell down the stairs. Katie had just finished doling out the inheritances since she was left as the primary beneficiary of the will when she went into labor with you."

Duo nodded absently mulling over what he had learned for the greater bit of it, what he had not. He now knew the circumstances of his mother's life, for the most part. A teenaged green witch kicked out of her home for being pregnant and living with her elderly grandmother wasn't strange in an of itself . So what had happened to make Katie's life turn the way it did? "So what changed after I was born? What happened to cause the fire?"

Howard gave Duo a puzzled look; reaching for his glasses again he placed them back on his face. After a moment he let out a steadied breath and looked Duo straight in the face. "Nothing happened. The wiring was bad. Katie suffocated before she could get to the door with you in her arms. One of you're neighbors heard you screaming and rescued you. The rest is history."

Duo frowned his mouth opening in quiet protest. To someone else, the explanation was perfectly sound. To Duo however, it didn't click. He had read and re-read as many of the reports and notes as he had access to when he had begun investigating this. More than one of his neighbors had reported his mother yelling at someone before the fire. Testing of the wires had shown that they were only ten years old and shouldn't have faulted for at least another twenty or thirty years. And if the smoke in the apartment had been enough to kill a full grown woman, then how could he , a three month old baby have survived?

"But, Howard," He started and the other man's face grew stern then, and without even realizing it Duo's mouth shut with an audible click. He knew from years of scolding from Howard when to speak and when to just hold his tongue. Howard's face did not bode well for questions, something that puzzled Duo even more. "Now you listen to me Duo Ian Michelson Maxwell," He said quietly, and in a very even tone. Duo could do no more than stare at Howard more than a bit alarmed, and angry at his sudden change in mood. "Despite what you may think, or what you have encountered hunting. The supernatural is not to blame for everything. I only know of maybe one or two things like this that have happened in the past twenty years. And both times a demon was involved. Now I've already told you once that Katie wasn't into that. She was a green witch and a damned good one. She would have never broken the rule of three or done anything to harm any one. And she certainly wouldn't have been cavorting with demons."

Duo was slightly caught aback by the vehemence in Howard's voice. Then realized with a start what Howard was implying. "Howard, I didn't mean to insinuate that Katie, my mom was doing anything she shouldn't have. You told me she was a good witch and I believe you. But just because she was a good little witch doesn't mean that some big evil nasty didn't have its sights on her. You and I both know you don't have to have it coming to be a victim."

Howard gave him a slightly mollified look. Then sighed and ran his boney fingers through his significantly thinned hair. "I know kid and I'm sorry. But this was, hard enough the first time. Wondering what had happened. If there was something anyone could have done. If there was something I could have done. It's just a little painful to be bringing up, that's all."

Duo looked down at his flat warm mug of beer. It was getting late, the clock on the wall read one thirty five and Duo could see the bar tender and one of the bouncers talking and casting glances their way every so often scanning the rest of the bar Duo noticed that most of the other patrons, including the quiet Japanese guy had already left. They were the last ones out.

Looking back up at Howard he gave the man a light and slightly sad smile. "I'm sorry Uncle Howie, I didn't mean to make you upset. It's just. I wanted to know something about my mom and, I guess I was expecting more to the story. Maybe you're right and I should take a little break from hunting. Hang around Baltimore for a while and make some legal money."

Howard seemed to relax a little though both men knew that the relaxed mood had been shattered with Howard's out burst. He gave a snort and said. "Hey, it's been a while but I still remember how mechanically inclined you were. If you've gotten any good at working on cars let me know and I'll hook you up."

The conversation turned then from his mother to cars and Howard's shop for which Duo was very thankful. His mind was swimming with the information Howard had supplied and the questions he had yet to answer. But Duo wouldn't push his old mentor for any thing more. Not after the reaction he had gotten. It seemed as though Howard had gone through an interview like this before though Duo was loath to ask for whom.

A few more rounds of idle chit chat and then the last bell rang for customers to clear out.

Duo set his now empty glass down on the table with a soft whump, and then stood shrugging and stretching the kinks out of his shoulders Howard followed suit. "I think I aughtta get going. I still gotta find a hotel and I might go see Sister again tomorrow."

Howard nodded as he stretched himself though he seemed to be a bit distracted as well. Duo wondered what the old man might have been thinking to distract him so. Thoughts of Katie, of the girl whom he had loved like a daughter? The circumstances that brought her son to meet him out of the blue? Or maybe just wondering if he had locked all the doors to the garage.

With a shrug Duo wrangled himself back into his black jacket and rebut toned his priest's collar which he had taken off when he began drinking. Howard glanced at the white collar surrounded by black. "Still sporting that thing are you?"

Duo looked down at him self and grinned. "Not so much as I used to, what can I say? I know that Sister approves of what I do. But I also know she would have much preferred me to go into the seminary. At least this way we can keep up our game of 'I'm here visiting from the seminary' and she can pretend for a bit." Howard nodded and then reached out a hand and for a moment it looked as though Howard were going to lay his hand on Duo's cheek. But he stop and grasped his shoulder instead.

"You be careful Duo Maxwell, you got me?" Duo nodded closing his eyes and bringing one of his own hands against Howard's taking it gently from his shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze before letting it go. "You too uncle Howie."

And with that Duo turned and walked to the front door, the bouncer and bar tender watching him with eyes like hawks. Duo felt himself sigh as he stopped to look at the sky as he exited the bar. However at that moment in time his most pressing matters; to find a hotel, and think of the next step in his search for answers plagued his mind. Duo Maxwell set off towards his car with that thought in mind at one thirty eight a.m., and by one forty five all he could think of while trying to dodge and duck out of the way of his opponents fists was "what the hell did I get himself into?"

GHGHGHHGHH

Author's note: Well, hello peoples. There are peoples reading this right? I have gotten a few reviews but not as many as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a glory hog. I'd just like to know that someone is reading and enjoying this besides those select few who have been gracious enough to review me. So come on guys, Review!! Also some side notes.

Duo's mom as a Wiccan. Honestly, didn't see that one coming. It just kind of came out but I think I'll keep it. It fits in rather nicely with where I want this to go.

Second one. Howard getting really defensive about Duo's mom. Yeah I said the whole 'love like his own child' thing and it is. He was just very close to Katie and her death hit him hard.

Third: Yeah, not so much an action chapter. There will be chapters like this where I'll put a lot of conversation and very little to no action. I think it gives you a bit more intimacy between those characters and really, most of the story will probably advance farther this way. That's not to say it won't have action. But keep you're eyes peeled for chapters like this.


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